Fundacio Institut Catala de Nanociencia I Nanotecnogia (ICN2), Spain

The Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) (www.icn2.cat), created in 2003, is a research centre with currently about 200 people among researchers, technical support and administration. It is a relatively young, but increasingly recognised research centre, the research lines of which focus on the newly discovered physical and chemical properties that arise from the fascinating behaviour of matter at the nanoscale. Its core activities are: Frontier Basic and Applied Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Technology Transfer, and Public Outreach. ICN2 is an independent non-profit research organisation within the framework of the Catalan CERCA research centre management model and the ICREA international talent recruitment mechanism. With 17 research Groups and 3 Specialised Technical Divisions, the Institute promotes collaboration among scientists from diverse backgrounds (physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering) to develop basic and applied research, always seeking interactions with local and global industry. ICN2 also trains researchers in nanotechnology, develops numerous activities to facilitate the uptake of nanotechnology by industry, and promotes networking among scientists, engineers, technicians, business people, society, and policy makers.

ICN2 is consistently ranked amongst the top-10 of Spanish research institutes in terms of excellence in scientific publications (SCIMAGO rankings). ICN2´s achievements were recognised by the Spanish government, with ICN2 awarded in 2014 the most prestigious Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation. ICN2 plays an active role in developing scientific knowledge, bringing nanotechnology closer to the market, and disseminating nanoscience to a broad audience, interacting closely with universities, research centres, technology centres, private sector R&D, the scientific community and society in general. Currently, ICN2 participates in 25 European projects and coordinates five of them. The research covers new material properties resulting from their aggregation at the nanometric scale; the development of methods for nanofabrication, growth, analysis, characterisation and manipulation of aggregates and structures of nanometric dimension for nanoelectronics, spintronics, nanophotonics and nanophononics.

Resources:

P2N group has various characterization equipment for nano- and micro-scale samples and structures for optical, thermal, electrical, acoustic, elastic and mechanical properties. A detailed list of laboratory facilities and equipment can be found at www.icn.cat/~p2n/labtour and includes state-of-the-art Raman and Brillouin scattering, our own developed Raman thermometry and scanning thermal microscopy, cathodoluminescence, Seebeck and 3-Omega techniques. Structural Characterization with several complementary techniques such as XPS, SEM, environmental SEM and TEM, among others located in the Central Laboratory of ICN2 and the Research (support) Divisions. In particular, the following experiments and techniques are available in the group:

• The laboratories of the P2N group are specialised for key research activities in photonic and phononic nanostructures. These include multiple experimental setups for the measurement of inelastic light scattering by optical and acoustic phonons, thermal conductivity, Seebeck measurements, ultra-short (femtosecond) dynamics, luminescence, reflectivity, and atomic scale microscopy. Inelastic light scattering is used as powerful tool to investigate phonons in low dimensional structures, the electron-phonon and the plasmon-phonon interactions, confined phonons in membranes, phononic crystals and phononic cavities. In particular, the following experiments and techniques are available in the group.
• Two Micro-Raman scattering setups with triple spectrometers (Horiba Jobin-Yvon T64000) optimized for the UV/blue and visible to IR spectral range, respectively. Resonance profiles and study of the dispersion relations are enabled by a wide variety of excitation lasers between 350 to 900 nm. Temperature-dependent measurements can be performed from 3 to 900 K.

An optical spectroscopy laboratory equipped with photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), absorption, and reflectivity setup in the UV to NIR spectral range, an 8 T cryostat for magneto-optic experiments, two diamond anvil cells for high-pressure measurements.

AEMD group has all the facilities for the growth, transfer and characterization of 2D materials. In particular, a vertical CVD reactor for growing up to 4 cm² atomic thin MoS² layers and a large scan area confocal Raman Microscope (Witec).

Additionally, INC2 offers access to XPS, XRD and high resolution SEM and TEM as well as AFM to fully characterize the structure of the 2D materials.

Role in NanoSmart:

ICN2 will

• Develop the production oflarge scale and uniform atomic thin layers of MoS₂ to supply all partners with material for fabrication activities
• Perform material characterization based on advanced techniques such as Raman thermometry.
• Develop the liquid exfoliation process for MoS₂

Design and develop capacitive humidity sensor based on MoS₂

Key personnel:

Prof Dr Clivia M Sotomayor Torres (female). She obtained her PhD in Physics in 1984 from the University of Manchester, UK. She held tenured academic appointments in the UK (St Andrews and Glasgow), Germany (Wuppertal) and Ireland (Cork). Since 2007 she is an ICREA Research Professor researching the science and engineering of phononic, photonic and electronic nanostructures. Her full CV and list of publications can be seen at: www.icrea.cat/Web/ScientificStaff/Clivia-Marfa-Sotomayor-Torres-422. She is an ICREA research professor and carries out research in the field of science and engineering of phononic nanostructures, novel lithography methods for their realisation, such as nanoimprint lithography and self- assembly and nanometrology. She has authored and or co-authored over 440 scientific articles and edited six books. Her h-index is 39. She has participated in European projects since FP4 and coordinated six projects.

Dr. Francesc Alzina: (male) is a senior researcher in the P2N group performing research on the optical and vibrational properties of low dimensional and nanostructured materials, with interests spanning from control of phonon propagation and confinement in phononic crystals and cavities and the coupling between phonons and photons and phonons and excitons. He is responsible for ICN2 in the EU project QUANTIHEAT aimed to the establishment and implementation of new metrology technology based on scanning thermal probing, which will be applied to characterize representative industrial materials like polymers for nanoimprinting, metallized nanoparticles for interconnects, and nanostructured thermoelectric and thermal interface materials. After being awarded the degree of PhD from the Universidat Autonoma de Barcelona, he carried out postdoctoral research at the National Renewable Energies Laboratory in USA and at the Paul Drude Institute in Germany.

Dr. Marianna Sledzinska: (femalewww.researchgate.net/profile/Marianna_ Sledzinska) Senior laboratory engineer in the P2N group, who received a PhD in Physics from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona in 2012.  She is an expert in quantum transport in carbon nanotubes and graphene. She is currently investigating thermal transport in 2D materials like transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene. She will provide support in sample processing and characterisation. She was/is involved in several EU projects (MERGING, NANO-RF and NANOTHERM) linked to thermal properties of nanomaterials.

Ms Cristina Morales: (female) Group Administrator and Project Manager of the P2N group, who received a degree in Management and Administration from University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). She was/is involved in EU projects MERGING, NANO-RF, NANOTHERM, QUANTIHEAT and PHEMOMEN.

Prof. Dr. Jose A. Garrido (male) is PhD in Telecommunication Engineering (2001) and holds a “Habilitation” degree (2010) in Physics by the Technische Universität München, where he has been Associate Professor until 2015. Currently, he is an ICREA Research Professor and head of the Advanced Electronic Materials and Devices group at ICN2, which explores novel electronic materials, such as graphene and other 2D materials, and their potential in electronic and bioelectronic applications. The activities cut across different scientific aspects, from fundamentals (physics of devices and semiconductors) to materials (CVD growth of graphene and 2D materials, surface functionalization, advanced characterization), through devices (fabrication technology, nanofabrication), and to applications (biosensors, neural implants and biomedical technologies). He has a successful track record of involvement in 21 competitive Autonomic, National and international competitive funded projects (8 of them European – FP6, FP7, H2020-), being co-author of more than 119 papers, 2 patents, 1 book chapter, and having supervised 21 PhD Thesis and over 28 master and bachelor thesis.  He is deputy leader of the workpackage Biomedical Technologies (integrated by 13 teams) of the Graphene Flagship Initiative.

Dr. Elena del Corro (female) graduated in chemistry in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2005) and obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry (2011), best thesis in chemistry award in 2012. In 2013 she conducted a postdoctoral stay funded by the Brazilian government. She incorporates to ICN2 in 2016 as postdoctoral researcher and since 2017 she holds a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish grant program Juan de la Cierva Incorporación. She holds extensive experience in Raman characterization of bidimensional materials and her current research activities focus on the growth, characterization and transfer of layered materials such as MoS₂ and graphene.